This CD is a duo recording from Italy, created by Luciano Troja, on piano, and Giancarlo Mazzů, on nylon string guitar. Giancarlo Mazzů and Luciano Troja take ten standards, such as Irving Berlin’s Cheek to Cheek (two takes) and Hammerstein-Kern’s All the Things You Are, and they shift from piano to guitar riffs, with familiar, then improvisational interpretations. Three standards have two tracks each, for two takes (alternate renditions). The musical result is enchanting and mesmerizing, making this recording a must-hear-again selection of favorite melodies.

Notable tracks:

#2 and #7 - Bye Bye Blackbird (Two Takes) – Composed by Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon. Within these two “takes”, Mazzů and Troja introduce the guitar and piano solos in opposite order, with the first “take” more traditional and harmonious, and the second, more jazzy and percussive. They focus on the elegance of the theme, throughout, highlighting the rich, repetitive phrases.

#5 – Autumn Leaves – Composed by Jacques Prévert and Joseph Kosma. Mazzů repeats, in windy motif, the first few notes of this standard, while Troja takes the theme. Later, they include an original fragmented version of the theme, before returning to the windy guitar and piano duo, so ŕ propos to the meaning of this song.

#6 – Everything Happens To Me – Composed by Tom Adair and Matt Dennis. Troja leads this track with an engaging piano twist, first traditional, and then a waterfall of bubbly notes. Mazzů as well, accompanies the piano with soft excerpts of the song, before he shifts to a melodic mélange on his spirited guitar..

#8 – All the Things You Are – Composed by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern. Troja introduces Mazzů, and the guitar plays this romantic theme with scintillating softness. Yet, these creative musicians soon switch to mixed measures of atonal storminess, ending in an intense refrain. With Troja and Mazzů, this standard takes on new meaning.